Monday morning came all too soon, which meant it was time for recording and harmonizing and dance practice. As usual, they put their phones in a plastic container that Kelly kept before they headed into the sound booth. Normally, all the phones were silent. But not today. James's phone kept vibrating like crazy, signalling a call and a couple of text messages. By the time the second call came through, Kelly had had enough.

"James Diamond's phone," she said.

"Oh, um, I'm guessing this is a bad time," a soft voice said from the other time.

"He's working on a song right now. But if you tell me your name I can have him call you during his break," Kelly said, grabbing for a piece of paper.

"My name is Ruby. I was his waitress yesterday. Um, tell him to call after five. This is the only break I get today. Sorry for interrupting," Ruby said.

"No problem. Goodbye," Kelly said, hitting the End button before Ruby answered.

Kelly put James's phone back in the bin and put her headphones back on.

James is hitting on waitress's now? Wow, she must be really pretty to get his attention.Was the last thought that ran through Kelly's mind before Gustavo started screaming.

Kelly delivered the message to James and had never seen him happier to get his phone back. He had quickly added her name to his contact list and checked his text messages. He smiled while he read them, laughing slightly.

Hi James. I couldn't've been more shocked that you left your number with my tip. I'm happy though. Text me sometime :) - Ruby R.

Hey, sorry. Um, my break is ending soon and I've tried to call. Anyway, if you still want to call later then please do it after five - Ruby R.

"You seem happy," Kendall said, snapping James out of his thoughts.

James nodded happily. "Yeah. Ruby has been texting me," he said.

Logan looked at him oddly. "Our waitress from yesterday?" he asked, taking a sip of water.

"Yeah. She wants me to call her tonight, after five when she's off work," James said.

His friends exchanged worried looks. "Um, James. Don't you think you're just a little bit too happy about all of this?" Logan asked.

James looked at him, confusion on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"He means," Kendall stepped closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "that you barely know this girl, hell all you know is her name, and you're already head over heels for her. Maybe you should slow this down."

A hurt look spread across his face. "Slow down? All I'm going to do is call her. God, can't you guys be happy for me? I finally found a sweet girl and you guys are acting like she has the plague!"

"James, we are happy for you..." James cut Kendall off.

"Well you sure as hell aren't acting like it! What if she is the one? What if she's my Jo or my Stephanie or my Camille? What is she is my shot at happiness?" tears were burning in his eyes as he watched his friends, who still looked doubtful.

Carlos sighed and looked down at his hands. "James, you've never wanted a permanent girl," he said, his voice low.

"I changed my mind. There's something different about Ruby. I know there is," James said, his voice hopeful.

His friends all nodded, exchanging doubtful looks. They all knew that there was no changing James's mind. He would either fall in love or fall into a revine of sadness. Either way, they'd still be there to pick up the pieces, like always.

If James could have smiled more when they got back to the apartment it would have been ridiculous. He kept checking the time, frowning when he realized that it still wasn't five. Usually the boys didn't get home until six, but today Gustavo had let them go early, since he had a meeting with Griffin. Now it was only four thirty and the wait was killing James, and driving his friends crazy.

"James, why don't you come and play dome hockey. It's me and Carlos against just Logan. You know Logan will lose if he's all alone," Kendall said.

"Hey!" Logan said.

James looked back at them from his seat on the couch. "Logan is perfectly fine. You just want me to not think about Ruby!" James said.

"You caught me. Come on man. Watching the clock won't make you anything but desperate. She's just a waitress," Kendall said.

"Oh yeah. And Jo is just a TV star. And Camille is just an actress. And Stephanie is just a director. God dammit! Why can't you guys realize that I really like her. And she must like me too or else she wouldn't've called and sent me those texts. Please, just let me have this."

The other three were silent. James turned his attention back to the clock and smiled when he realized it was only five minutes to five.

If I call right at five then I'll look like a desperate stalker. He thought.

He pulled out his phone and punched in her number, opting to call her a little earlier than five. It rang a couple of times before he heard shuffling and some yelling on the other end of the line.

"Max, stop it! Go play with your toys!" Ruby's voice said. "Hello?" she asked.

"Is this a bad time?" James asked.

"James! No, no. This is a wonderful time!" he heard more rustling around. "Max, give Caitlynn back her toy!"

James bit his lip. "Are you sure this is a good time?"

"Yeah yeah.. My little brother is just being a pain. Hold on a second," Ruby said. James can hear the phone being put down and some movement in the background. There's a door shutting and the sound of a little kid cooing. Ruby laughs slightly and James can hear the phone being grabbed again.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi!" a little voice answered.

James laughed softly and looked back at his friends who were busy trying to kill each other at dome hockey. "Hello. Is Ruby there?" he asked.

"Caitlynn, give me the phone," Ruby says, her voice distant.

"Bye!" Caitlynn chirped.

"Bye," James said, laughing. "Ruby, ya there?"

"Yes. Sorry. Caitlynn stole the phone and..."

James laughed. "Don't worry about it. She's adorable. So, you told me to call you..."

"Um, yeah. I was wondering if you wanted to get together some time. I mean, you left your number and everything and I just kind of assumed that that, well, maybe meant something," Ruby explained.

"Yeah. Definitely. What are you up to tomorrow?"

"I have to work until five again. We could try and do dinner," Ruby said.

"That sounds great. I probably won't get off work until about six but I can always pick you up at your house," James offered.

"No! Um, no, I mean, I'll just meet you wherever we go."

James tilted his head slightly. "Ok. Um, I have to go. Mama Knight just called us for dinner. I'll text you later ok."

"Ok. Goodbye James."

"Goodbye Ruby."

TBC...